No adjustments for Colorado

Posted By
John Henderson
On
November 7, 2010 @ 8:10 am
In
Football,University of Colorado |
11 Comments

LAWRENCE, Kan. — A few random thoughts after watching one of the colossal meltdowns in modern sports history or how do you blow a 28-point fourth-quarter lead to the worst offense in the Big 12?

* Colorado coach Dan Hawkins is getting picked apart by opposing coaches. The difference between coaches in the Big 12 and the WAC, where he dominated, is they make adjustments. He hasn’t.

At halftime of Colorado’s 52-45 pratfall at Kansas, Jayhawks offensive coordinator Chuck Long got a read on Colorado’s defensive shifts. He made an adjustment and in the fourth quarter rattled off 35 straight points for the win. Junior quarterback Quinn Mecham, who was going to red-shirt until Kansas desperation turned to him the week before, hit 23-of-28 for 252 yards and two touchdowns. B.J. Beatty recorded Colorado’s lone sack.

Offensively, Colorado’s Rodney Stewart had 161 rushing yards through three quarters. With a 28-point lead in the fourth, he only carried three more times. Hawkins panicked after Stewart’s 2-yard loss and even with a 14-point lead chose to throw into the wind twice, both falling incomplete.

Dominating the line of scrimmage the entire game, Colorado tried some trickery with a reverse to receiver Toney Clemons. His fumble, which Tyler Patmon returned for a touchdown, set up what by then seemed inevitable.

* The Colorado faithful no longer has faith. In an underwhelming crowd of under 30,000 bodies, I counted about 30 wearing Colorado gold. How many will show up Saturday against a 5-5 Iowa State if a nice day screams for a November hike?

* I’m wondering where Dan Hawkins lands. His background is on offense but his last assistant’s job was Boise State’s tight ends and special teams coach under Dirk Koetter before taking over in 2001. What happens to head coaches after five straight losing seasons and driving a division champion into the league basement?

Also, this season can’t look good on the resume of coordinators Eric Kiesau and Ron Collins. With 17 starters back, they’ve shown no improvement on the field or in the standings. Collins has two NFL-caliber cornerbacks yet the Buffs are 112th nationally and last in the Big 12 in pass efficiency defense.

With a veteran backfield and a sure-fire first-round draft pick at left tackle, the offense is second to last in the league in scoring at 21.67 points a game.

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